Daily Thoughts

In the Old Testament I read some verses that talk about the "tried and precious cornerstone" which is Jesus Christ, and discuss "the righteousness to the plummet" and a "bed shorter than a man can stretch himself" upon. The institute manual makes clear what is meant by these. It says: With Christ as the chief cornerstone in our spiritual house, we are prepared to face the justice of the Lord with equity and faith. Jesus Christ becomes our advocate and pleads our case with the Father. The "righteousness to the plummet" alludes to the building trades and continues the imagery. Christ is the cornerstone from which all other stones are laid. When something plummets, it drops straight down. A building uses a plumb bob to find a straight vertical line. The plumb bob is a weight attached to a cord that, when extended, hangs perpendicular to its beginning pont. Thus the builder knows he has a straight line. With righteousness and justice as His measuring tools, the Savior starts with a chief cornerstone (Himself) and lays out a perfect and firmly built house, one which can resist any storm that would sweep away a house reared through other means, especially the covenant with death. The imegery of the bed and the inadequate covers is more easily understood than the imagery of the plummet. Obviously, if we are not covered by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, we will find ourself like a man in a bed too short for him with a blanket that is too small to cover him. No matter how appealing sin may look at first, it can never satisfy our inner needs. The sinful person will be ever like the man in a short bed with inadequate covers. He will twist and turn and constantly seek comfort, but he cannot find it. The Atonement of Christ for sin covers, or is efficacious for, only those who trust in God with all their hearts and keep His holy commandments. Isa. 28: 16-22 "Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. For the Lord shall rise up as in amount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth."

In the Book of Mormon I read that many people died of old age, and those who died with faith in Christ were happy in Him. Indeed, if we die with faith in Christ, we will be received by Him and find great joy in the next life. Alma 46: 41 "But there were many who died with old age; and those who died in the faith of Christ are happy in him, as we must needs suppose."

Some verses with a thought booklet tell us how John testified that a man cannot receive anything except it's given to him from heaven. He said that he was not the Christ but had instead been sent by Him, and that as Christ increased, he must decrease. We need to put the work we do for the Kingdom in perspective, just like John did, and give credit where credit is due. Imagine watching a father and his 3 year old son washing a car. The little boy has a sponge that he's brushing the bottom of the car with, while the father is doing the vast majority of the work above and around him. In yet when the toddler goes into the house he'll probably proudly tell his mother that he washed the car with a little bit of help from his daddy. We are just like this when we claim to have done something "with a little bit of help from Heavenly Father" when in fact, He did most of the work. We need to give Him the glory! John 3: 27-30 "John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease."


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